BREAKING: Democrat Rep. Found Guilty, Faces Expulsion

House lawmakers just took a major step toward booting a sitting Democrat from Congress.

A bipartisan ethics panel voted to move forward with a process that could ultimately expel Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who’s accused of funneling millions in disaster relief money into her campaign. The panel found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty on 25 counts.

An investigative subcommittee signed off on a motion for summary judgment, essentially concluding she committed nearly all the violations outlined earlier this year.

The decision followed a rare public ethics hearing Thursday — the first of its kind since 2010 — that stretched more than six hours. Lawmakers from both parties pressed her legal team as the eight-member panel, led by Rep. Michael Guest, weighed the case.

“After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [statement of alleged violations] had been proven,” committee leaders said in a statement.

The allegations are sweeping. Investigators say Cherfilus-McCormick improperly used funds tied to disaster relief, filed false financial disclosures, and sought “special favors” tied to earmark requests. She’s also facing a separate federal indictment.

The panel will reconvene after the Easter recess to recommend punishment, with expulsion on the table.

Rep. Greg Steube has already pledged to push an expulsion vote regardless of what the committee decides. That would require a two-thirds majority in the House, meaning Democrats would have to cross the aisle.

So far, party leadership has largely stuck by Cherfilus-McCormick. But cracks are beginning to show.

“The allegations before us are extremely serious,” Rep. Mark DeSaulnier said at the start of Thursday’s hearing. “They not only concern an individual member’s conduct, they also implicate the public’s confidence in the House’s integrity as an institution.”

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Cherfilus-McCormick, first elected in 2021, is accused of siphoning more than $5 million in disaster relief funds that were allegedly routed to her family’s health care business. Prosecutors say she and her siblings used the money to jumpstart her campaign and for personal expenses, including a large diamond ring she appeared to wear in her official portrait.

She has pleaded not guilty to the 2025 federal charges. If convicted, she could face up to 53 years behind bars.

The ethics probe actually began more than two years before that indictment. During that time, investigators say Cherfilus-McCormick cycled through four attorneys and largely refused to cooperate.

At Thursday’s hearing, her new lawyer, William Barzee, tried to delay proceedings until June, citing his recent entry into the case. The panel rejected that request behind closed doors.

“For you to sit here and make the claim that we, the committee, is trying to trample upon the rights of your client. I take offense to that,” Guest told Barzee in a combative exchange. “For two years we’ve tried to get documents from your client. Not only have we requested documents, but we have subpoenaed those documents. Those documents were not provided for two years.”

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“I’m personally offended because I know the work that this committee goes to protect all members and to make sure that we go above and beyond,” Guest continued.

Lawmakers from both sides also pushed back on Barzee’s defense of the money transfers. He argued Cherfilus-McCormick was entitled to the funds through a so-called profit-sharing arrangement.

That didn’t fly.

“I did a lot of business transaction law for a number of years before I came to Congress. I drafted a lot of profit-sharing agreements. Never saw one that was just a chart that was unsigned,” Rep. Nathaniel Moran said.

Barzee later suggested that, given Cherfilus-McCormick’s Haitian background, informal “handshake agreements” were not unusual in dividing up millions of dollars.

The panel didn’t appear convinced.

Cherfilus-McCormick is set to face trial in federal court this summer.

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